Abeokuta greeted them not with fanfare, but with solemn grace—jagged hills, red dust curling through the air like whispered warnings, and a silence that held more than absence. It was a silence that pressed against the soul, a silence that listened. And somehow, it mirrored the ache in Sophia's chest.This was the third stop on The Fire We Share tour, and while everything on the surface followed the usual rhythm—check-ins, team meetings, outreach sessions—Sophia felt the fracture long before she could name it. The team was different. Or maybe, they had been breaking slowly, and it was only now that the cracks revealed themselves.The bus, once filled with the sound of laughter and shared dreams, had gone still. Ralia, usually the one humming to herself, her eyes alight with questions and awe, now sat near the back with her headphones on, eyes glazed and miles away. No one talked much after sessions anymore. No debates over what lines from a participant’s poem hit the hardest. No refle
Port Harcourt was a city that didn’t whisper.It roared.Not just with honking danfos, market shouts, and the rhythm of constant motion—but with stories. Heavy, unspoken stories. Tucked behind barred windows. Pressed into walls that remembered too much.Sophia arrived on a Wednesday with her team. It was the second stop on The Fire We Share tour.Unlike quiet Kaduna, Port Harcourt came with bright lights, media crews, and stiff protocol. The Women’s Development Board had rolled out banners. Local politicians circled like vultures hoping for a photo beside Sophia.But she hadn’t come to be framed in a picture.She came to listen.And one girl’s voice would change everything.Her name was Amarachi.Sixteen. Sharp-eyed. Always writing.She sat in the front row of every workshop—silent, but never absent. Her notebook was her armor. Her pen, a blade.During the second day’s circle, she finally spoke. And when she did, her words were like shattered glass—clear, cutting, and impossible to ig
Three months later, the journey began.The first leg of The Fire We Share tour rolled out—not in luxury, but in purpose. Their white sprinter bus wasn’t glamorous, but it was home on wheels. Shelves lined with donated books. Warm golden lights overhead. And painted across both sides, three simple quotes from Sophia’s memoir:“You are not hard to love.”“Your silence was never a flaw. It was a pause.”“We don’t rise to impress. We rise to breathe.”Ralia sat up front beside Sophia, her journal clutched like a lifeline. Her eyes shone as brightly as the morning sun they’d chased out of Benin.“I still can’t believe this is happening,” she whispered, almost afraid to wake the dream.Sophia smiled, her gaze steady on the road ahead. “Neither can I.”Their first destination?Kaduna.A city carved from quiet resilience—scarred by conflict, yet stubborn in its strength. Sophia had once spoken here years ago, but this time, she came not alone, and not for applause.She came for something quie
Sophia returned to Nigeria three days after the Geneva keynote, her body weighed down by jet lag, yet glowing with a fire that didn’t dim. Her inbox overflowed. Notifications buzzed non-stop. Her phone had missed calls from three major international publishers, all eager to discuss translation rights.But she wanted only one thing.Her own bed.Home wasn’t merely a destination anymore. It was a conscious choice—one she kept making, even as the world begged for more of her. Even as her name echoed louder across continents, she kept choosing stillness, softness, sovereignty.Clara was waiting at the airport, grinning behind a cardboard sign that read:“Madam Global Voice 😎 Welcome Home!”Sophia laughed the moment she saw it. Bags forgotten, she wrapped Clara in a fierce hug.“You’re radiant,” Clara said, eyes dancing. “Like you were kissed by a UN resolution.”Sophia groaned. “More like kissed by sleep deprivation.”“You hungry?”“Ravenous.”“Good. I made yam porridge and that peppered
The Geneva air was sharp and pristine, laced with something that struck Sophia at her core—arrival. Not just the physical kind, but the soul-deep awareness that she had stepped into a moment she never envisioned for herself.She stood beneath the towering glass ceiling of the Palais des Nations, surrounded by banners waving in every language, skin tones from every corner of the globe, voices rising like a hymn of resilience. The Global Women’s Peace Council wasn’t just a summit. It was a convergence of legacies. A sanctuary of revolution. A sacred choir of survivors, builders, and world-changers.And somehow—miraculously—she was one of them.A delegate handed her a lanyard.SOPHIA GEORGEKEYNOTE SPEAKER – DAY 3THE POWER OF SURVIVAL STORYTELLINGHer fingers lingered on the bold letters, tracing the print like it might vanish. It didn’t feel like a name tag.It felt like a declaration.A scar turned into scripture.Her first panel was intentionally small—ten women, one circle, no camer
Chapter 55: His Truth, Her Strength When Liam’s interview went live, Sophia didn’t rush to read it.The morning met her with a charged kind of stillness,the kind of quiet before a summer storm, heavy with anticipation. The air itself seemed to hold its breath.Clara texted her the link before eight. Owen didn’t.He knew she’d open it when she was ready.And she would.But first—her ritual.Water. Ginger. Two spoons of honey. Her hands moved with practiced grace, as if each step in making her tea was a reclaiming of self. A quiet reminder that she set the tone of her day.Only then did she sit at her desk. She opened her laptop, the screen humming softly. And there it was:“The Man Who Lost Her: Liam George Breaks His Silence.”By Tomi Shonibare – The Mirror AfricaA photo beneath the headline: Liam in a plain black shirt. No tie. No ring. His face leaner. Aged not by years, but by the weight of unspoken truths. Yet he didn’t look shattered.Sophia exhaled and began to read.I never t